The Games We Play
by XSuicuneX
Summary: She was in this place, in this game, and she interested him. He wasn’t one to let a gem like her pass without at least some attempt. -She sighed, this was the game she chose to play, he was simply a willing participant, and she, a willing target. Romy
1. Apprehension and Meeting

**Edit; Decided since I got a review complaining about some of the mistakes that I hadn't noticed before I might as well go through this chapter again and comb out all the issues that needed to be fixed. Although, for the future, Mr/Mrs 'Apostrophes' if you want to give constructive criticism, try growing a sense of decency and being a little nicer about it, instead of showing how much of a pompus jerk you really are.**

**That said, since I didn't do it the first time;**

**Poker Face belongs to Lady Gaga, thank her for the awesome Gambit like song. XD**

_Mum mum mum mah_

She leaned back against the cold metal, letting the music take her. Her body swayed to the beat, letting herself be pulled into the frenzy of rhythms and tones. She ignored the foul smell of booze and cigars, ignored the loud catcalls and wolf whistles of the club's various patrons, crowding around the stage in the hopes of getting a better look at this pale nymph, this curvy dancing thing. It was just her and the music.

_Mum mum mum mah_

She ran her hands over herself, allowing the crowd to get a better view of her soft cleavage, a gift, one that granted her more cheering and, she could only hope, more of the wadded green papers that were the only things keeping her off the street. Some men she recognized, and she resisted a shudder. No…she didn't think she'd need their company tonight.

'Just keep dancing' she told herself.

_I wanna hold 'em like they do in Texas please_

One of the men reached out towards her, grasping for a pale ankle. She quickly danced out of his reach, and he got a word with security. She thanked whatever god there was for that, if it weren't for some of those bouncers…She shook her head and lost herself in the song.

'Keep dancin', don't think about them, s'long as they give money it doesn't matter how they're lookin' at ya.'

She turned, giving them a good view of her backside and began to move sensually against the metal pole. She let the bass guide her, rocking her hips erotically, eliciting more calls and maybe a few moans in the crowd.

_Fold 'em let 'em hit me raise it baby stay with me_

She may not have noticed, but one particular patron was paying special attention to her, and trying very hard not to. Remy Lebeau usually didn't go after the dancers in this club, as a rule**. **He preferred getting his company for the night from those who were off work, or those who were simply in there for a good time. He didn't like going for whores, he was good enough without having to pay for his bedmate. However, something about that dancing goddess caught his attention.

She was pale, thin, like she hadn't had a decent meal in a while. Her hair was long, wavy, and brown, but strangely with a white stripe running down the side of it. He longed to run his hand through that stripe, wondered how soft it would feel. He subconsciously licked his lips; damn that femme looked good enough to eat.

_LoveGame intuition play the cards with spades to start_

He noticed the way all the men were practically climbing onto the table to get a hold of her, through his empathy he felt her fear, and he wondered what could have happened to put someone so young into a place like this. Her movements were hypnotizing; her skin like a siren's song beckoning him, but her emotions screamed 'Stay away!'. It was a puzzle, one he was quite eager to solve. He didn't get up from his seat at the bar, simply waited. She 'felt' exhausted, she was going to quit soon, and when she did, he'd be there.

_And after he's been hooked I'll play the card that's on his Heart_

They were too close; she knew it was time to make a break for it. Quickly she gathered her 'earnings' and headed off the stage, quickly snatching up any stray pieces of clothing that happened to have left her during her frenzied dance. She straitened up her costume, a flimsy green attire just barely covering up what was decent, and quickly headed to the bar, signaling her usual from the bartender, praying for her heart to stop racing.

"An' what would a _petite_ like you be doin' in a place like this, _hien_?" Said a deep, honey coated masculine voice barely a foot next to her. She turned towards the voice, to be met by a tall, lean figure in a black leather duster, a black Fedora on his head. His hair was long and brown, reaching down to his shoulders, and his eyes were also a deep chocolate brown. Her eyes roamed down further to examine his lean figure, clothed in a casual black muscle shirt and his legs enveloped in some loose jeans. Her gaze lifted back up to his face and she blushed when she saw his mouth turned up in a cocky smirk. He knew she had been checking him out. His own eyes quickly took in her own scantily clad figure, and from the smirk that came after that, he liked what he saw.

_I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_

This femme was a diamond in the rough alright. Remy could hardly believe that such a _belle_ could be living in such poor company. She looked to be barely 20, maybe 21, far, far too young to be in a place like that. And what was with this fear he constantly sensed coming off of her? She was young, beautiful, and scarred shitless of her own shadow, though she certainly put up a brave front. Even then, as she was flushing furiously over having been caught blatantly checking him out, she had huffed and turned to her drink, like he had offended her or something. Really, what was with that? So she was checking him out, that's what people did at that club right? He simply had acknowledged that she had good taste. Not only that, but he showed her that he appreciated what he saw as well.

Remy sighed; clearly the poor girl did not belong in this shithole, where men like him tended to frequent. However, she was there, and working, obviously trying to keep herself off the streets, or fed, or whatever else she did with her earnings. It was her choice, even if he didn't agree with it; he might as well go with it.

"What? You don' like what you see _Cher_?" He smirked again at her. She was in this place, in this game, and she interested him. He wasn't one to let a gem like her pass without at least some attempt.

_I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_

"I've seen plenty Cajun, and frankly I'm not in the mood to see more tonight." She kept her voice hard in the 'not in the mood to talk' tone. The bartender handed her her drink, and she thanked him before taking a swig. Honestly, this man was infuriating, why didn't he follow the other men's examples and stare at the busty half naked blond who was dancing on the other stage not five tables away from them? Why did he have to choose her to pursue this night? Though, in all honesty, he was only doing what her other 'regulars' tended to do after she got off the stage. She knew what he wanted, and she hadn't exactly gotten all of her rent for the night, she was going to have to go back to the stage at this rate, crowd or not.

She sighed, this was the game she chose to play, he was simply a willing participant, and she, a willing target.

As expected, her tone hadn't deterred him.

"Aw, _Cher_, why be like that? Why so uptight after putting on such a _magnifique_ show for us poor scoundrels?" He leaned closer to her, causing her to tense up. She hated people being close to her, always had since her 'incident' always would. Especially since her newfound 'freedom' included the company of more than a few of these wasted individuals.

_Can't read my_

Remy noticed her stiffen, sensed the sharp panic pulse off of her. What happened? She had tensed when he had come too close. Remy's jaw clenched with his speculation. She was too young, far, far too young to be there.

"Why are you here? In a place like this?" His hand gestured around him, indicating the dancing girls, the intoxicated men, the loud music and smell of cigars.

"What could happen to make such a _belle fille_ end up in a dump, dancin' for rogues like us?"

_Can't read my_

"Maybe I am a rogue." She felt the heat rising to her cheeks again. No, not again. This man was getting too close, too close to the heart of things. Why should he care? She was just another tramp in a club, sure, she was young, but there were plenty of young things in clubs like this. He had no right to her past. No right to care.

"It's mah life; I live it how I want." She gave him a glare over her drink, trying not to notice how simply talking to him made her feel hot all over, how her blood warmed when he expressed concern for her. It had been so long since someone had seemed to care…so long…

"Why ask? You just want what all the othah guys around here want." She glanced in the direction of all the men, leering as they were at the leggy blonde. From the looks of it she was making a good haul, a lot of those guys were going to be disappointed, or maybe Blondie was going to bed one of them in gratitude? She had a feeling that was why she never got quite enough, that, or maybe she just wasn't exactly what her boss called, 'Money makin' gorgeous'.

_No he can't read my Poker Face_

"Mebbe I think you wouldn't mind it, at least not if the company decides you should get some fun outta it too, _non_?" He reached forward, slowly so she wouldn't panic, at least more then she already was, and grasped a strand of white hair.

"What are you scared of _Cherie_?" He whispered to her, putting his empathy into his words to try and calm her down.

_Can't read my_

She slapped his hand away, not hard, just making to motion to show that she didn't want him there, that close. Her cheeks flushed as she gave another glare in his direction. "I'm not."

_Can't read my_

"Yes you are _Cherie_. I can see it on your face." A lie really, all he could see on her face was nervous arousal and anger, but Remy chose instead to focus on the fear and underlying panic that was screaming at him through his empathy. She was good at hiding her fear; a sick feeling in his gut told him that she was only that good from lots and lots of practice.

'Too young, far, far too young'

_No he can't read my Poker Face_

"Where do ya think ya get off like that?!" Now she was getting angry, who was this guy? Who did he think he was, prying into her life like this?

"Ah ain't scared, least of all from the likes of you!" Her accent came out strong when she was upset, a clear indication that he had, in fact, gotten right to the point of her. She was scared, scared shitless of this place, of these men. She had gone and danced that dance, played the game so long, and she was still scared. She had been scared since she had left her home at the Institute, but she couldn't go back. She couldn't return to that life, ever.

_P-p-p-poker face p-p-poker face_

"Oh really? Prove it _petite_." There, she was angry now; perhaps he'd get some answers, or at least push at her barriers a little and manage to find a way to help her. Her fear was still there, just underneath the surface, and her anger just a flimsy mask overtop of it, but she was still angry for real. He was irritating her, and irritated people did things that fearful ones shied away from

Still…He hadn't expected her to crush her lips to his. Or maybe he had? It was what he wanted. It was so sad that she was still panicked underneath all her false bravado.

_P-p-p-poker face p-p-poker face_

She couldn't believe herself, here she was, kissing a guy that she had just finished telling she had no interest in sleeping with like some cheap hooker…Well…at least she was playing the right part. She broke the kiss almost as soon as she had started it, giving him a glare that dared him to challenge her and call her afraid again.

So what if her face was flushed and she was breathing heavy from having just taken in his scent, so heady with Cajun spices and cigarettes. She chose to ignore her panting breath.

_I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be_

Too brief, it was all too brief. Remy instantly wanted to grab her and show her that she had nothing to fear from him. Her face was flushed, and she was breathing heavy. Even his empathy picked up what her body was clearly telling him, she liked it, liked kissing him. Still, the fear was there, as always.

"What's your name _Cher_?"

_A little gambling is fun when you're with me_

She waited a moment before answering, than sighed in resignation. She couldn't get rid of him, no matter what she tried it seemed.

"It's Rogue."

"Jus' Rogue?"

"Just Rogue."

"That's a…rather interestin' name _Cher_."

She gave another sigh; this man was like a fly or something. She still couldn't understand why he cared, he had blatantly refused to answer that particular question, instead turning all of her questions and asking his own.

"Don't call me 'Cher' Cajun. Ah'm no one's Dear. And that's the only name you get, girls like me don't need names, only looks."

_Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun_

Remy paused, taking in the girl before him with his brown eyes. Well, she had mentioned before that she was a rogue, so the name shouldn't have surprised him, however, he still wanted to know why a woman like her was wasting her time in a dump, whoring herself out to the highest bidder. He felt sadness and resignation from her, and his heart ached in response.

Odd…she kept asking the question, and he was starting to wonder for himself. Why DID he care?

"You seem like a _Cher_ to me, and you still haven't answered my question once this entire night. Why are you here?" He leaned back, giving her some obviously much needed space and he felt her relax.

'Take it slow Remy, this poor _fille's_ been through a lot it seems, and way before her time.'

_And baby when its love if it's not rough it isn't fun_

"Well, you haven't exactly answered mine either." She gave him another glare.

"Why do you care?"

Suddenly her face froze, something that didn't go unnoticed by Remy, and the both of them eventually looked into the crowd to see a rather buff blond man heading in their direction. Rogue stiffened, but gave a false smile in the man's direction, visibly trying to look happy to see his person, while inside she was all but screaming in frustration, and more quietly, panic.

'Of all the times for James to be here!' she shouted in her head.

_I'll make him hot, show him what I've got_

Remy had a few choice words to describe about the blond man that was approaching, many of them followed by a quick punch to the face. He didn't like the way the man was grinning, scratch that, _leering_ at Rogue, didn't like the way Rogue tried so hard and so _badly_ to hide her panic at his approaching figure. It was screaming at his empathy, sure as if she was screaming out loud. He was very glad for all the years of playing poker as he gave no outward sign of his feelings as the stranger stopped at the bar, giving an appreciative, and unwanted, once over at Rogue's figure.

"Baby, are you taking off work already? Perfect timing, the boss let me off duty just now." The man made no hesitation of taking a seat next to her, grabbing her, pulling her against him so that he could run a hand against the side of her face.

Rogue was clearly not enjoying herself, but for some reason that Remy couldn't understand, she wasn't protesting against it.

"Well, Sugar, I was thinkin' of goin' back onstage since I still have a bit more to go for the rent…" She glanced almost longingly at the stage, as if anything were better than being in this man's arms.

"Nonsense babe, I'll talk to John and he'll cover it." Jock wannabe wrapped an arm around Rogue's shoulders, causing her to stiffen up more. Remy had to use every ounce of his self control to not get up, pry the man off of her and beat him senseless. What kind of ass blatantly goes out of his way to press himself into the company of a girl who obviously didn't want him?

Well….thinking back, Remy had to admit that he had been doing the same thing not too long ago. But there was a difference; he didn't make Rogue's emotions scream like this, this, blond haired buffoon obviously did. Also, contrary to what Rogue and himself were insinuating, he did want to help. Why? He didn't know, but he still wanted to.

Blondie narrowed his eyes at Remy, "Who's this lowlife babe? I hope you weren't thinking of skipping into his bed for your rent. You know you just need to come to me right, Hun?" He turned his glare to point a dangerous one to Rogue, another thing that made Remy want to bash his face in. He was threatening the_ femme_ now. _Dieu_, the man must be a pig.

_I'll make him hot, show him what I've got_

Rogue kept her composure, barely, as James' hands started their usual wandering. She had hoped to leave the club before he got off work, like that ever changed anything, but it seemed luck wasn't on her side this night. She kept up her fake smile and ignored the flash of irritation that came with his so obvious insinuations that they were anything more than just acquaintances who so happened to work at the same club.

"Now Sugar, be nice. Ah wasn't gonna do anythin' with this guy, we were just talkin' is all." She kept up the meek and docile smile for James; he was looking to be in a very dangerous mood this night.

James gave a rather unconvinced look at Remy, his eyes narrowing in irritation.

"Talking, right. I'm sure you were just getting to the question of 'Your place or mine?'" He turned his unconvinced gaze back at Rogue, who only shook her head weakly, gone was the confident and sassy girl she had put forth with the Cajun man, she was broken and weak in James' arms.

"N-no James, it's not like that at all."

_Can't read my_

"How about you leave the _Femme_ alone, she's right, we were jus' talkin'. No real reason for you to fly off the handle _homme_." Remy was starting to really, really hate this guy. All he gave off was aggression, lust, and pure possessiveness when it came to Rogue, and he didn't like it one bit. Least of all did he like the waves of panic coming off her person the longer she was held in the man's arms.

Obviously James was starting to like Remy just as much.

"And what's your name, _homme_?" He sneered as he said the last word, making a piss poor French accent as he said it. Remy cringed to hear it, really now, was it necessary for every man who had an issue with him to mock his Cajun heritage? Was it funny? He didn't get it.

"My name's Remy, Remy Lebeau. What's yours?" He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the bar, glaring at the pig from under his hat. How he wished that his eyes stayed red, instead of only changing whenever he used his powers. He would've loved nothing better than to scare the pants off of this _la mère Baise de la Merde._

James narrowed his eyes and stood up, taking Rogue with him. Remy couldn't understand why she didn't fight back, but judging from the emotions coming off of her, one of which was a powerful feeling of resignation and hopelessness, he was guessing she already had…and quite possibly had gotten hurt for her trouble.

"My name's James, and if you come near my Anna again, I'm going to wipe the floor with you."

_Can't read my_

With that the two quickly headed out of the club. Remy waited exactly five minutes before he followed them. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was he couldn't resist a _Femme_ in trouble, and that particular one, guessing from the panic/anger/despair coming from her, was in big trouble. He still didn't know who she was, or where she came from, or why she was there, nor did he have an answer for her question. That is, why did he care?

Well, either way, Remy had a feeling that James was going to be having a bad night that night. He grinned wolfishly at the thought. No one hurts a woman in front of the Rajin' Cajun.

_No he can't read my Poker Face…_

**Disclaimer; I don't own Marvel, these characters, or barely even this plot…well….maybe I own this plot, however some of the jokes that come in here are certainly not of my own creation. *nods***

**I don't know a lot of things, French and the way Strip clubs work with their employee's, or how they work period, so forgive me if some of this is off. This is movie verse X-men, and cannon with X1, X2, X3, and Origins, with maaaaby some guesswork and editing on Remy's age. I'm still debating on whether to make it that his age process is slower or not because of Dear Stryker's testing…hmmm…**

**Many things will be explained in a few chapters, just be patient, including the reason why Rogue's able to touch again. (Let's just say the cure wore off, as it's gonna be explained in the other chapters as well) I know I made Rogue kinda wimpy at this point, but there is a reason for that, and yeah, this James guy has her wrapped around his thumb. He isn't anyone you know, or anyone I know, or based on anyone I know…though I will admit for having a bit of a dislike for blond jocky types, and that's the type he is. *laughs* Other than that, he's just a random OC I made up purely for the purpose of getting his ass handed to him by Remy. **

**Long chapter, I really need to learn to write without getting on a tangent or something…srsly. *rubs neck* I need a beta too, planning on making more chapters for this as well. (Le gasp! 'Cune's gonna UPDATE?!) I know…shocking isn't it? I just figured with all my reading of stories I might as well actually…y'know…WRITE one. Romy that is. **

**I just went on another long tangent didn't I? Oi vea.**

**Review plsthx. **


	2. Guilt

**Disclaimer; I don't own Marvel or these characters, though I'd really love to have dinner with Taylor Kitsch. **

**Before I begin, I believe I forgot to add things to the last chapter, namely, the name of that lovely song that was going on during the club scene. It's called Poker Face by Lady Gaga, and kind of fits Gambit…if he were a woman…and after everything in pants instead of skirts. *laughs* But I digress, here's also the French translations that I forgot to add as well.**

**Fille- Girl**

**Petite- Little One **

**Cher- Dear**

**Cherie- Darling**

**Femme- Woman**

**Magnifique- Magnificent**

**Belle-Beautiful**

**Deiu-God**

**Homme- Man**

**La mère Baise de la Merde- Mother Fucking Shit **

**Just remember, I don't know French, so internet translators are my only guide. Glad to take any advice real French speaker's out there have to give. Also, this is rated M for a reason, and I'm not planning to hold back, life is cold and cruel sometimes, and we do what we can to get by. That's not to say this story won't have a happy ending, or that everything that happens here is gonna be all dark and depressing and questionably immoral, just that some ugly things are gonna happen. You've been warned.**

**Also, since its rated M, there's gonna be some cursing going on (like there hasn't been already, in French and English). Again, you've been warned.**

**Now to the story. :D**

SMACK!

A satisfying hit to the target in front of him, and Bobby let loose the first smile he had allowed himself all day. He had been training in the school's gym for a few hours now, working on his hand to hand, with a little touch of ice to the punches and kicks when he thought he could risk the bags.

It had been what…five years since the incident? Five years since she left, since he had made what was possibly one of the stupidest mistakes of his life. Five years…

Another well placed kick to the bag sent it skidding back a couple of inches; he paused, and took a deep breath.

"Rogue…"

_He was scared, terrified, since she had absorbed him for the first time. It was a kiss, and he thought he could handle it, it had worked the first time Damn it! Why hadn't it worked again? It seemed that a brief taste, only the slightest tantalizing touch was allowed to them, before her powers kicked in and took his soul away from him._

_God he was scared._

_He tried to hide it, tried so hard not to flinch whenever she was around him, but she knew. She always knew, so sensitive to how others reacted around her by now, to her skin. He had to admit she had a right to it. Honestly, he couldn't imagine what she went through, and he felt so terrible for being the coward he was._

_But he was scared._

_It was painful, the absorption. Feeling like his life was being pulled out of him, like his lifeblood was being drained into her through the very pores of his skin. She had sucked the life out of him, and even if it was only for that brief moment, it was enough. _

_He hadn't tried to kiss her again since that day._

_Kitty had been an all too willing comfort for him then. He told himself they were just friends, but he knew, inside where he didn't want to admit the truth, he knew. He told himself, 'just trying to be a good friend,' he told himself he was only trying to help. The truth came out the moment his lips touched the shadowcat's. _

_He didn't blame Rogue for getting the cure after that._

_He promised himself he wouldn't put her through that pain again, he'd be a good boyfriend; after all, she could no longer hurt him anymore._

_He promised himself…_

SKINK!

Bobby was startled back into reality, noticing that he had accidentally created an ice spike out of the palm of his hand, and pierced the punching bag with it. He sighed, now Storm was going to be angry with him for ruining yet, another of the work out equipment.

He was so distracted these days.

He shook his head and walked over to where he had laid out his stuff; he wiped himself down with a towel and took a drink from his water bottle. Things had been so stressed since all those years ago. Since Jean and Scott and the Professor had died. Storm was doing all she could to keep the school afloat, even with so little help. Currently they had Hank on call for any medical emergencies, and Kurt and Warren had both stayed at the school in order to help with teaching their young charges.

Bobby sighed and sat heavily on one of the benches lining the walls of the gym. Logan had left soon after Storm took over the institute, he said something about needing to clear his head, or something like that.

Bobby couldn't blame him, he had killed the woman he loved, but Bobby couldn't help but feel like if he had stayed, things would have ended up differently.

If Logan had stayed, Rogue wouldn't have left.

Five years, it had been five years since she had walked out of their lives. Bobby couldn't help but blame himself for it.

_She had done it, she had gotten the cure. She could finally touch, and he was happy for her. Sadly, not everyone was so supportive of her new life._

"_Hey look, it's our resident Homo Sapian." The word was spit out at her like a curse, like it was a bad thing to be human. Honestly, they were working on bringing peace between humans and mutants; didn't these kids have any manners at all?_

"_C'mon Rogue, just ignore them." He tried to grab for her, to lead her away from their mocking glances, but she resisted. He paused and turned to her, and with a sharp pain in his chest noticed the hurt look in her eyes, the hurt and the anger._

"_Shut up." She said it in a whisper at first, then the anger grew and overcame her hurt. She lashed out, breaking free of Bobby's grip and stubbornly approached the two girls who had been only another couple of those who felt the need to punish her for her choice._

_They smirked at her, pleased at her reaction._

"_Make us."_

_Bobby had held her back just in time before it turned into, yet, another of Rogue's frequent fights._

A buzzing in his pocket woke him up from his thoughts. Frowning, he took out his cell and gazed at the number that showed up on the tiny screen. He let out a deep breath, and answered.

"Hey Kit, what's up?"

The voice on the other end was high pitched and excited.

"Like, Bobby, you will not believe what we just found out. You have to, like, come out of the gym for once and see who's come and made a visit to the mansion."

"Really Kit, who's so important that I just _have _to go out and see?" Honestly, he didn't care about any new students that came in, if they weren't Rogue, he didn't give a damn. She was the one he was most worried about, the one he had wronged so badly.

"Like, just come down and see!" Kitty was starting to sound angry from her end, angry and frustrated. Who was this new person?

"Alright, alright, just give me a bit." Bobby reluctantly gave in. He didn't blame Kitty for being mad at him.

"_Bobby, like, why don't you join me, Jubes, and Pete on a trip to the mall?" She gazed at her boyfriend hopefully; maybe getting him out with his friends would cheer him up for once._

"_Nah, I don't think so Kit…I think I'm gonna hit the danger room for the afternoon." He didn't want to hang out, didn't want to be around the others these days. It just didn't do anything to fill the nagging that he felt in his heart._

"_Oh my god Bobby! You're so infuriating sometimes!" Normally it took quite a bit to make the Shadowcat angry. Usually it included several threats to her shopping addiction and insults to her cooking, but even then she never went much farther than a mild annoyance. With Bobby it only took a few words and she felt like she wanted to punch something, without phasing through it._

_It pained him when he made her angry, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. _

"_I'm sorry Kitty; I just don't feel like it is all." _

"_You never feel like it! You never feel like anything!" She was right in his face, shouting at him. He could tell this had been bottled up in her for a while, she didn't even add in a single 'like'._

"_I've just had a lot on my mind…" A lot of guilt more like…_

"_Ever since Rogue left all you've done is spent all your time in the Danger Room, or the Gym, or in your own room sulking over her leaving. She's gone Bobby! She left of her own choice. You can't keep blaming yourself for it!" She pointed into his chest, praying for the words to have some effect on him. _

"_Oh yeah, why not? I didn't see you do anything about the way everyone was treating her!" Now he was getting angry, it was looking to be another of their many quarrels over the Southerner's departure. _

"_I did what I could! Every time one of those…those…people decided to taunt her for taking the cure I stood up for her! We were there for her! She was the one who refused to see us standing beside her. She was the one who left Bobby!" _

_His eyes narrowed and he let out a tightly held breath._

"_Well, obviously it wasn't enough for us to defend her. She needed more, and we could have done more Kitty!" His hands clenched at his sides, and his breathing became heavy. He closed his eyes tightly, that heavy weight of guilt crushing against his heart, his longs, suffocating. He could have done more…_

"_Bobby…I can't do this anymore." He opened his eyes to see her regretful look. He blinked, not understanding._

"_What do you mean Kit?"_

"_I mean, we can't do this anymore. We never should have done it to begin with." Kitty shook her head and backed away from him, leaning against her bed behind her. She looked away._

"_I'm sorry Bobby."_

They had remained friends after that, even though Bobby was still spending most of his time in the Danger Room, training like all that mattered to him was honing himself to perfect fighting capacity. Still, it was better this way, like breaking up with Kitty had been lifting a weight that his guilt had been putting on him the entire time.

She was dating Peter now, and they couldn't be happier. Bobby hadn't found anyone else, not that he could have since he spent all of his time either training or hanging out with his friends when they managed to pry him out into the world again. It wasn't that he was saving himself for Rogue, on the off chance that she could come back. No, that wasn't what he wanted.

Five years was a long time to wait to rekindle a relationship that should have stayed as friendship.

That was all he wanted from her now, friendship. He wanted her to forgive him for what he did, or didn't do. Wanted her to know how sorry he was for fearing, when he knew how she had felt about people fearing her. Wanted her to understand how bad he felt for cheating on her with Kitty, even if a kiss was all that he had done that night at the pond.

Even when he and Kitty started dating, soon after Rogue had left them, they hadn't done more the kiss.

Most of all, he wanted to know that she was okay. It hadn't been more than a few months after Rogue had left that the news of the Cure's effects being temporary had reached them. He had been excited; maybe she would come back to them? Then he could start over and be the friend to her that he was supposed to have been. He could do things better, be more supportive in her attempts to control her powers.

She never came back.

She wasn't going to come back.

It was a realization that he had come to long ago, and with it, his guilt ate away at him more and more every day. He swore if it weren't for his friends he'd have been worse off than Scott after Jean had died the first time.

So consumed by these thoughts, that he barely noticed the commotion that greeted him as he made his way to the entrance of the mansion. So distracted, it took him a full minute before he realized who it was that was at the door, and it took him another five to pull together a coherent thought so he could speak.

"Logan…"

"Icepop." Logan greeted with his customary growl, he looked pretty much exactly the same as the last time Bobby had met him, save a little more worn around the edges. It didn't escape his notice, however, when the Wolverine's trademark adamantium claws popped out of his fists with their customary 'SNIKT'.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

***

Remy moved silently as he tracked down where Monsieur I-have-to-hit-my-woman-in-order-to-feel-sexually-adequate had taken the frightened Belle. The thought of what that man might do to her disgusted him, only making him hasten his advance to find them. He couldn't help but wonder though, after all of the times she had asked him that question he still didn't have an answer.

Why did he care so much about her? She was just another whore.

Or was she?

Really…what woman was 'just a whore' anyway? Remy could say that it was the gentleman in him that rushed so fiercely to this particular femme's defense. He always had had a soft spot for the beautiful ladies. He could even blame the fact that this particular femme greatly interested him. She was so scared, and he simply wanted to know what had happened to get her into her situation.

But that was the thing, why did he want to know? It wasn't his business or anything.

Maybe he just wanted to because she was so guarded. He was a thief, and as such, secrets and challenges were very interesting to him.

Did he see her as a challenge?

No.

Then what was it?

Even with all his doubts swimming in his head, the Cajun Thief didn't slow his pace, easily climbing a fire escape and landing quickly onto the roof, where he gracefully slid into a run and jump across the rooftops, ears straining to listen for where the duo had gone to.

No matter his reasons for wanting to get to know Rogue, the gentleman in him refused to leave her to that pig. Everything about the man had screamed danger for her, and Remy wasn't going to be caught dead if he were to leave the poor femme to her own devices. He was raised better than that, and she was obviously not going to do anything to stop the man herself.

He wondered what the man had done to make Rogue so defenseless around him.

Remy decided he had better never find out, or else said man was going to very likely end up splattered all over an abandoned alleyway. Favorably after he had gotten Rogue out of said alleyway first.

Remy promptly came to the conclusion that the only reason he was so drawn to Rogue was simply that, he just was. Something about her, he didn't know what, drew his attention, his focus. He couldn't explain it, and he figured, until he did, he wasn't going to. He was tired of trying to puzzle it out in his mind until his head hurt, of trying to find a suitable answer for her so that she'd just open up and let him in, let him know her.

It was better not to dwell on things that just were, really. This was a lesson he had learned well in his life, and the Rogue was simply another puzzle to solve.

He'd play fate's game for now, and see where it led him. He'd be damned, however, if he let fate play _him_.

But for now, and he smiled as he picked up on the emotions of barely concealed panic and rage/lust coming from a pair in an alleyway to his right, now he had a femme to save.

He vanished overtop the edge of the roof, the tail of his duster the last thing to be seen.

**Well now, that was a lot harder then I had expected it to be. I blame Bobby; he's not as interesting to write as Gambit and Rogue. I know this chapter is shorter, but for the life of me this one was pretty hard to get out. Again, blaming Iceman.**

**More French!**

**Monsieur- Mr.**

**Now if I could only figure out how to do the layouts and add in lines to separate the parts of the story and everything….hmmm…ah, please tell me if things get confusing. I have a bad habit of rambling and writing stuff that makes no sense to anyone but me…habit of being too subtle. Comes when my head's not in the job.**

**Changed my writing style around too, I feel like breaking the rules that were placed in my head in English class that said never to separate sentences from each other and how to write a proper paragraph. It's easier this way. *nods***

**Now, be good little munchkins and click the review button for your aunty 'Cune.**


	3. Anger

**Disclaimer; I own nothing, not even the computer I'm currently using to write this. **

**Edit: I own the computer now, (yay laptop) however, I don't own the internet I'm using to update this story to you. (double yay for library access.)**

**I'm sosososososososososo sorry for the long wait! I got evicted, and barring from a looooooong explanation on that matter I kinda had to wait a while before I could put this all down for you guys. I had to move into my own place, get my own computer, get myself something to hold my story's in (technology is awesome, never had one of these storage device thingy's before) and frankly, I also had to get off my lazy bum to write it. To make up for it, however, this is a rather long chapter, longer then the first one at that. *nods* Sadly, I think the absence made my writing suffer. *growls* now I have to get back into the Romy groove and write the next chapter, probably shorter, but hopefully in better quality.**

**So, without further adieu, and thanks to all of you who reviewed and put this on your alerts list, I haven't abandoned you yet! You guys make me smile, and give me a headache as I attempt to fathom why you could possibly enjoy this load of tangled letters as I poorly attempt to make into something worthy to be called a 'story'. **

**.**

**.**

**Honestly people, I'm not that good. ^.^ Hope you enjoy all the same.**

**Romyness brought to you by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and their song Facedown.**

_Italics=Flashback, French and thoughts _**Felt like making the French a bit more noticeable. XP**

_**Bold italics is lyrics**_

**And now for the next chapter.**

***

Rogue had never wanted to end up in a strip bar, obviously, nor had she wanted to become said strip bars' owners' brother's personal slut either. Everything had happened so fast for her.

First she saw Bobby kissing Kitty under a starry sky on the mansion grounds.

Then, after she gained the cure, everyone and their mother decides that she's barely her worth in airspace just because she chose to become _human_, never mind the fact that they were fighting for peace between humans and mutants.

Then, after a brief and very unpleasant meeting back with her family who also felt that she wasn't worth anything simply because she _had _been a mutant at one time, the cure goes and wears off on her!

Then after that, she finds herself once again on the streets, scraping and stealing to get by, barely able to make a decent living for herself, hitchhiking across the country only to end up in Baltimore and come into this mess.

It had all started with a stranger in a bar. Rogue was beginning to suspect that she should start acting like a normal and sane person would, and never accept anything offered by someone in a bar in the first place.

She would've done that too, if the thing the person had been offering hadn't been a promise to help her control her powers.

It wasn't so much controlling, now that she thought back on it, it was more along the lines of…suppressing. Her eyes shifted to the hand that was firmly entrenched in James' grip, focusing on the silver bracelet that rested there. She gave all her freedom, all her will, her confidence, her innocence, all for that little strip of metal.

She gave it all for touch.

_**Hey girl, you know, you drive me crazy**_

"J-James…where are we goin'?" She made her voice as soothing as possible, trying to calm him down. He was pissed, she knew it, she didn't quite understand why. Then again, when did she need to understand? James had always been that way, violent for no reason.

He didn't answer her, just hauled her along forcefully in an attempt to get her away from the club. She looked back, almost longingly. Her thoughts drifted back to the man in the black duster. Who was he?

"James, you're hurting me." She tried to pull her wrist free, only to be met with a quick slap to the face.

"Shut up Anna! You brought this on yourself you know." He growled the words in her face, his hot breath clogging her air.

She flinched away, cowed by his anger. How did she get mixed up with a man like this?

The answer was simple really, he was the one who had given her touch. The owner of the club was his brother, and it was him that she had met up with in that bar that night. He had gotten her a job, gave her protection from some of the more nasty patrons, and all she had to do was give herself to him.

Whenever, wherever, he wanted.

Rogue knew she had sold herself cheap, and many times had made attempts to fight back for her freedom. She was stubborn and proud, she was the Rogue. So of course she fought for her dignity.

Problem was, James had no issues with hitting his woman, and he was built like a linebacker. Too many times Rogue had learned just how hard it was to fight for your freedom when the person you're fighting can easily take you down.

She had been trained, by Logan himself, but she was weak from lack of food and poor living conditions, she didn't have the strength to fight back.

And James knew it.

She should have never come to Baltimore.

_**One look puts the rhythm in my hand**_

"James, Ah don't understand. What'd Ah do wrong?" Her accent was becoming more pronounced again, always a sign of when she was upset. James was looking dangerous. She read it in the veins pulsing in his forehead, she was going to hurt tonight.

He gave her a cutting glare, as if it should've been obvious what she had done.

"You bitch."

With that he turned and went right back to dragging her by her wrist, likely bruising it along the way.

_**Still I'll never understand why you hang around**_

"James, stop!" She cried out, in another attempt to fight for her will, for her freedom. It was the same game they always played, one she always lost. If she had never given her soul for touch, maybe she would still have been the strong stubborn woman she had been before she went to work for that club.

No, she realized, before she took the cure. Before she started giving up herself for touch.

_**I see what's goin' down**_

James had dragged her into a dark alley, and with a rough twist pinned her against one of the walls. He glared at her again, before giving her a sharp slap across her face.

She gazed back at him frightened, green eyes pleading into his hard cold blue ones. He only responded by slapping her again.

"James…" Her voice was strained with holding back a sob.

"Don't 'James' me bitch. What were you doing with that man back there? You know you're mine!"

_**Cover up with make up in the mirror**_

He roughly grabbed her shoulders, causing her to wince, and slammed her back against the wall. She bit back a cry, still attempting to keep the soft, passive tone in her voice.

Rogue had fought him before, and all that had come of it was getting beat within an inch of her life.

"James, nothin' happened. I swear it."

"Just shut up!"

_**Tell yourself it's never gonna happen again**_

His face was set in a scowl, almost animalistic with his rage. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing heavy, his eyes flashing with a light that Rogue had been witness to in far too many occasions.

She backed up further into the wall, trying to get as far from him as possible. She shuddered at the look in his eyes, and froze when his scowl curled up into a smirk.

"You're mine Anna." It was her Death Sentence.

_**You cry alone and then he-**_

"I think it's time you learned your place." His hand came up to lightly caress her cheek, her breath hitched in fear.

She shook her head, pure terror making any of her desperate pleas catch in her throat.

_**Swears-**_

His caress turned into a sharp slap. His grin was feral as he let loose a deep chuckle at the cry she involuntarily let out.

"James!" She sobbed.

_**He-**_

" 'Makin' me horny Babe." He practically purred the words as he leaned forward to her frightened face. He growled and pulled her roughly against him, laughing at her struggles.

_**Loves-**_

"Stop it!" She tried fighting against him, a carefully placed stomp of her foot provided the desired effect, as evident by the loud curse from behind her. Unfortunately it didn't cause him to let her go, only making him hold her tighter in a vice like grip.

"You're gonna pay for that Bitch." He snarled.

_**-you!**_

Rogue knew she had no defense, knew that James was only going to stop after she collapsed and most likely passed out. The only thing she could do was cover herself with her arms, when he let her, and pray he would _only_ decide to beat her tonight. There had been times where he had done worse.

Much worse.

_**Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?**_

The blows came and Rogue found herself being drawn inward, a defensive response to having been privy to that abuse for so long. She had been working at that club for what, a year? She didn't remember anymore.

She had a feeling that all of her changes had started the day she had gotten the cure, or more accurately, the first month she had had the cure inside her.

She knew she was viewed as a traitor by most of the students in the school. Ororo, the school Headmistress, had been one of them. It has rubbed the weather goddess the wrong way when Rogue had gone and willingly gotten rid of her mutant powers. Rogue understood that Storm had been taught by Xavier to treasure their powers as gifts, but no one understood her reasons for casting hers aside.

Her powers weren't a gift, only a curse. A curse meant to hurt her and anyone she choose to be in a relationship with.

"Are you listening to me bitch?!" A sharp punch to the face caused her to gasp and cry out, her body falling to the ground from the force of the punch.

_**Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?**_

James growled and roughly picked her up, giving her a hard slap on the face again.

"I said, are you listening bitch!"

Rogue only let out another cry and a silent nod, anything to make him stop hurting her. He yelled out more obscenities and hit her again, and she only whimpered in response. She thought back to her times in the institute, she knew the old Rogue would never have let this man have his way with her, just one touch or punch would have stopped him in his tracks.

Her eyes gazed at the silver bracelet again, her focus blurry as one eye was starting to swell from a hit. She could take the thing off, but it was set to stop working the moment she did. She didn't understand how the mechanics of the thing worked, but if she was to take off the bracelet then, she would have to do a favor for the owner in order to get another. And that 'favor' would likely include something for James too.

Also if she were to use her mutant powers on James, the repercussions would include worse than a beating for her.

It wasn't worth the risk.

_**Well, I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end**_

She shut her eyes, drawing herself in again. She prayed, hoping he'd tire out soon. The blows rained down on her, wearing away at her physical defenses, oddly enough, it reminded Rogue of how at the mansion all the insults wore away at her emotional defenses. The way all the students were treating her, like she was some kind of traitor, it was too much. She had had to get out of there.

Granted, it hadn't escaped Rogue's notice all that her friends had done for her, and she had been grateful for it, it was just…she couldn't stay there for another day with all that hostility. She closed her eyes, loosing herself in old times, no matter how painful they were, in an attempt to shut out the pain from the real world.

"_Bobby, I don't think we can do this anymore." She looked up into his crystal blue eyes, filled with confusion that they were. He had managed to catch her in the midst of packing, clothes half strewn all along her room, her floor, her bed. Her duffle bag open just enough so half the contents of her room were visible inside it. _

_The ice mutant shook his head, as if refusing to believe it._

"_Marie…why?"_

_Rogue sighed and turned from him, continuing her packing, ignoring all his silent attempts, his pouts, his confused denial, to stop her. _

"_I'm done being an outcast in my own home. I wanna find a place where I belong Bobby, and…" Here she stood up and looked him straight in the eye, green eyes meeting Ice blue._

"_I think it's time we both realized that we're not working anymore." _

_He froze, the look in his eyes filled with guilt. She knew he was terrified of her, even when she was no longer a physical danger, he was still afraid. Of what, she had a feeling even he didn't know. _

_But he was trying too hard, and she was tired of feeling guilty for putting him through that every day._

"_Goodbye Bobby."_

_**As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found**_

"Not that it's any of my business or anything, but from where I come from, the _femme's _don't take too kindly to bein' assaulted like that."

The voice cut through her thoughts, and she risked looking up from her shelter behind her arms. Sure enough, it was that same man from the bar, hat, duster, and all. The only difference was that this time he held a long metal staff in his hands, he was leaning casually on it, one end planted on the street before him.

James was gaping at him, one hand still raised in a fist, poised to land another hit on the broken girl before him. If Rogue hadn't been said girl, she would've chuckled at the baffled expression on his face.

"Wh-when…where'd the hell you come from?!"

_**A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect**_

The man smirked, and Rogue recalled what he had said his name was. _Remy…Lebeau… _It was a…different name. Then again, with his accent, she recognized it as Cajun, it made some sense.

"A little distracted, aren't we _homme?_" The staff came up, and twirled in his hands, pausing so that one end pointed at the two of them on the ground. He gave a sly smirk, his chocolate eyes resting on Rogue. "Not that I blame ya, with such a _belle _at your feet, but really, do you have to be so violent with her?"

Rogue blushed at the compliment. He thought she was beautiful? She recalled him saying something like that before at the club.

She was still looking at his eyes when she noticed something…odd about them. It was subtle, but she could swear that they were starting to glow.

_**Every action in this world will bear a consequence**_

It took only a moment, but soon Rogue knew that she wasn't hallucinating, the stranger's eyes _were _glowing. Glowing red, as if the brown decided to brighten and become crimson. She also noticed that the man's, _Remy's_, smile didn't reach his eyes. In fact, she could make a fairly safe guess that he was pissed.

She had no idea how right she was.

"What the fuck are you?!"

It was only then that she noticed that the metal staff in his hand was glowing…pink. Honestly if she wasn't about an inch away from being beaten to the ground by her current abusive…whatever James was, she would be laughing her ass off.

Who makes things glow _pink_?

_**If you wade around forever you will surely drown**_

"_Homme_, I would think you'd know a mutant when you saw one." It was probably the first time since he appeared that Rogue saw his smile go to his now glowing red eyes. His staff pulsed, the edges flaring with the pink energy. She wasn't too sure what that energy actually _did_, but even with the amusing concept of a man who produced pink energy she wasn't dumb enough to think that there wasn't a more…dangerous purpose to that crackling force.

James shook his head like a dog, making Rogue wonder at the fact that such a buffoon had her cowering and pleading only moments before. She winced as he gripped her waist closer to him, possessively, and she remembered _exactly_ why the idiot had her begging.

"Of course I know you're a mutant!" James growled, not happy at being made a fool of. "What the fuck are you doing here?! Anna's my girl, and I can do whatever the fuck I want with her! Stay out of our business!"

He sneered at the mutant in front of him, gripping Rogue even harder and yanking her behind him, making her cry out. "_homme_."

_**I see what's going down**_

Remy's smirk faded, turning into a frown.

"_Au contraire mon ami _but anytime Remy Lebeau spots a damsel in distress it becomes his business." The staff flared angrily, crackling as if it couldn't contain all of its pent up energy anymore. Rogue unconsciously flinched, and prayed that James would see some common sense and stop antagonizing the man before them.

Sadly, she might have been hoping for a miracle for all the good it did, James sneered at the man, like he wasn't scarred shitless of the nearly blinding pink light from the man's staff. Idiot.

"Well then _Remy Lebeau, _I guess you'll have to go elsewhere, 'cause a whore's not a damsel."

_**I see the way you go and say you're right again**_

Remy scowled, and Rogue had a pretty good feeling that James had made his last mistake.

"You should've kept your mouth shut _homme._"

With that, the end of the staff was thrust firmly on the ground, making a loud cracking sound in the air as the charged metal came in contact with the concrete ground. Shockwaves came from the focal point of the contact, knocking into Rogue and James and causing them both to fall to the ground, James just barely keeping Rogue in his embrace.

"What the Fuck?!"

Quick as a flash the man had rushed forward, pressing the end of his metal staff against James' face. His eyes shined brightly, the staff starting to glow again with a soft magenta hue.

"Let the girl go." His voice came out in a growl.

_**Say you're right again,**_

James froze, eyes turning towards the glowing metal against his cheek. Rogue wondered what would happen should the metal send it's shockwaves against James' skin, imagining the mess and wondering how much of it would get on her.

Her mind went in circles like this, fogged with panic.

She didn't even notice the subtle movement of James' hand, clasping ever so slightly against her silver bracelet and, keeping sure to only be holding her clothes, released the catch that held the band on her.

"Alright…you take her." And with a devil's smirk, James thrust the beaten woman up against his attacker. Thrown off guard, Remy automatically grabbed onto Rogue's body, making an attempt to stabilize them both. He barely remembered to pull his charge from his staff back in.

Remy opened his mouth, glaring at James as if to say something, but before any words could come out, his eyes widened, veins showing against his now pallid skin. He gasped in pain, feeling himself becoming weaker by the second.

"No!"

Before Rogue could absorb anymore of the stranger's life force she thrust him away, forcing his hand, foolishly bare against her naked wrist, to let go.

Gambit stumbled back, his chocolate eyes full of confusion as he turned to Rogue. His staff fell to the ground, and before he could make any other conscious movements, he fell, limp, to the concrete.

Rogue's head felt like it was splitting open, the Cajun's voice was so loud. His psyche was torrential vortex of agitation, and anger. This man did not like what James had been doing to the _femme_. This _Bibette _should be taught a lesson on how to treat a _fille_. This _batard_, this no good, low life…

_**Heed my lecture**_

"Heh, good goin' Anna, the joker's gonna be out for an hour for sure." James sneered at the prone form of her would be savior, seeming to forget that only moments ago he had wanted to beat the life out of her in favor of her demonstrated usefulness. He got up from the ground, turning his leering gaze to look smugly at 'his' Anna. He crosses his arm, his mouth forming into a smirk.

"So, how's his mind treatin' you babe?"

Rogue had had enough. Her head was screaming at her, the Cajun was growling insults in a language that under normal circumstances she couldn't understand a word of, and likely didn't want to translate, and her skin felt like it was on fire.

Odd, since it didn't hurt per-say, but it was like her body temperature had gone up several degrees.

Instead of answering the rather rude question, Rogue choose to calmly go and examine the body of the unfortunate soul who had touched her skin. He was certainly out cold, his shoulder length hair splayed haphazardly all over his face. Without thinking Rogue picked up his staff, twirling it expertly in her hands. Huh…thank you Cajun psyche talent.

_**Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?**_

"Hey Anna, somethin' wrong?"

His voice reminded Rogue that James was still around, something that irked the rather agitated southerner residing in her mind. She quickly turned to face the blond beside her, only to be met with a gasp and a rather shocked and startled glance from said blond.

"Anna….um…the staff's glowin'."

And sure enough, when she looked, the staff was glowing in her hands, glowing that same pink hew that the stranger had wielded so expertly only moments before. She twirled the staff again, her face oddly impassive, the energy misting off the staff along the ends as she twirled it. Strange, it was like she felt an itching in her hands where it touched the energy.

"Your eyes are glowing too…"

_**Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?**_

Again, she turned casually to him, face still impassive, although inside she was anything but. She could only blame the Cajun inside her. _Poker Face, _the thought came unbidden for her, and once again she blamed the Louisiana man. Though, the rage coursing through her at that moment she couldn't blame him entirely for, honestly she was just as tired, and her own rage paled beside his only because she had had it beaten out of her long ago.

Well, _his _certainly hadn't been beaten down, and with it her own rage gained the energy and strength that she hadn't had previously. It was time to put a halt to this sham, and now that she had her powers unsuppressed, thanks to James' idiocy, the Rogue was back in full.

"James."

_**Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end**_

The blonde looked up at her, startled by her tone just as much as he had been by her glowing eyes and the glowing staff in her hands.

"Yeah babe?"

It was past time he stopped calling her that, past time for a lot of things.

"Don't call me 'babe' bastard."

Down came the staff, making another cracking sound as it hit the concrete. Down went James, shock clear in his eyes.

She pointed the end of the staff at his face, once again it crackled with the magenta energies that seemed prevalent in Rogue's body, courtesy of the Cajun man.

_**As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found**_

James gaped at her, clearly unable to comprehend when his submissive little 'Anna' had transformed into this staff wielding harlot in front of him.

"Anna…"

"Don't you 'Anna' me neither. It's over James, you either get up, off your ass, and leave me the hell alone or Ah'm gonna see if the Cajun's powers do the same thing to your face that they did to the street."

Said face underwent a rather interesting transformation at those words, from shock, to confusion, to fear, and then, to rage. He made to stand up, only to have Rogue move the end of the glowing staff closer to his throught.

"I swear, I'll do it. Give me a reason, I won't hesitate."

_**Face down in the dirt, she says this doesn't hurt**_

Rage vanished and was replaced by fear, a sudden realization that this _wasn't _his timid Anna, not anymore. Not ever again.

"You've got no place to go."

"I'll find my way."

He scowled and glanced at the prone stranger, still on the ground, still unconscious, a little worse for wear having moved a few feet away thanks to his close proximity to Rogue's slamming of the charged staff on the ground.

"Sure you will, and you think he'll help?"

Rogue glanced back at the stranger, it was odd how she had forgotten him, especially when she had his angry voice yelling French curses at James in her head. _Batard_ seemed to be a favorite of his.

"Honestly? I don't give two shits about him at the moment."

It was true, other then making sure the man was alright from his unfortunate encounter with her mutation, she really didn't care.

"Go away James, I'm done with you."

Again his face flushed red with rage, funny how she had been so terrified of that same expression only moments ago. The Cajun in her mind scoffed, said he looked like he was going to pass out with all that blood rushing to his head.

"You can't up and leave like that! You owe me!"

Rogue scoffed herself, he thought she owed him? The nerve!

"I owe you nothing."

_**She says I, I finally had enough**_

"Like shit you don't!" He got up, apparently intending to do something, only to cry out in pain as the fully charged, and very hot, staff pressed against his face. It made a small sizzling sound and a rather unpleasant smell assaulted her nostrils. She quickly pulled the staff away, still keeping it between her and him, however.

"You bitch!"

She pointed the staff at him again, noting how he jerked back in fear from it, cradling his burned face in his hands.

"It's only what you deserve, now git! I don't wanna see you anymore James! I'm done with you, I'm done with that club, and I'm done with everything!"

His face contorted into a snarl, a rather reduced effect with him huddled over cradling his cheek.

"And where'll you go? You won't find any work around here, not with that slut rep you've gathered up."

She shook her head, face impassive again.

"Don't matter, least of all to you. Now, do I have to melt somethin' other then your face, or are you gonna scat?"

She brandished the staff in his direction, and with a frustrated noise, he promptly turned tail and ran, like the cowered she had always known, deep down, that he really was.

_**Face down in the dirt, she says this doesn't hurt**_

She sighed, letting the staff drop to the ground, only to jump in alarm as the charge on it promptly exploded on impact on the ground, making her nearly fall over and causing the prone stranger, _Remy, _move a couple inches away again.

"Ookay…now to figure out what to do next."

She walked over to…Remy's…prone form, kneeling down next to him and taking a good look over. He was just as handsome here, unconscious, as he had been at the club. Long auburn hair coming just to his shoulders, faint stubble along his jaw line, a body that, though covered in a long black duster, certainly seemed that it could be handsome. He was more lithe then muscular, but it seemed to suit him. Rogue could only speculate on why he had chosen to follow her and James out of the club, his psyche was giving her no help, still fuming in the back of her mind, though satisfied at the way she had handled the situation, and no prodding from her was going to cause him to give her any information. He just gave her his name and promptly went to the back of her subconscious, content to stay incognito with the rest of her psyches.

She brushed some of his hair out of his face, careful not to touch him, now that her deadly skin was back. Some scant memories came up to the forefront of her mind, she'd have to ask him about them when he woke up.

"Well, isn't this a real pickle?"

It was going to be a long night.

_**She say's I, I've finally had enough!**_

***

**Well, that took forever, this was a looooooong chapter. Kinda awkward really, since I spent long pauses in between writing it. My styles change now and again, depending on my mood. Hopefully it's not too noticeable.**

**I have no internet access, other then the library, so French translations are going to be…sparring now. Again, sorry for the looooooong wait for this chapter, I'll attempt to become faster for the next chapter. I'm thinking about making it out to be a look into our fav. Cajun's past.**


	4. Sweet Home Louisiana

**Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, nor am I making any kind of income from writing about them. Sadly. I do however; own a very nice library card that's currently allowing me to update this story.**

**Yaaaaaay, teh 'Cune is updating her story… FINNALLY…again…**

**Well, I'd do anything to you gentlebuggers…erm…I'd do anything FOR you…people…yeah…**

_Italics _**are for thoughts, French/Cajun and flashbacks. Once again I don't know anything about the French language, and even less about the Cajun. Never even been to Louisiana actually. Wanna goooooo…**

**T.T **

**Enjoy.**

***

_He kept pacing the room, dark though it was, lights shut off to reflect his mood. It didn't matter that it was dark, though, he knew the room well enough, had in fact known it for most of his life. It had been his for the past several years, his to sleep in, his to sneak into when he was so inclined, his to sneak 'others' into. It didn't matter that it was dark; for Gambit had kept it dark for most of the time he had been inside it. No use keeping the lights on when your occupation tended to keep you in uniluminated places._

_A knock at the door made him pause in his steps, and he turned his face away from the glare of the hallway lights, made even brighter to him thanks to his self inflicted vigil in darkness. It took him a moment, and his eyes adjusted enough to make out the identity of the intruder into his little 'cave'. A blonde head and kindly face revealed it to be his sister-in-law, Mercy._

"_Remy…"_

_She stepped into the room, hand feeling along the walls to find the light switch beside the door. It turned on, and Gambit flinched at the brightness, like all his sins were laid bare by the light._

"_It's so dark in here, why did you turn the lights off?"_

_He didn't look at her, but her voice told him that she was concerned. Leave it to Mercy to care about a dead man. _

"_Was tryin' to get used to the black, not like bein' dead's gonna be much different."_

_He heard her sigh, then felt one of her hands gently grab hold of his chin, turning his face to look at her._

"_You're not gonna die Remy, Jean-Luke won't let them kill you. It was an accident, everyone saw that, even Bella-Donna said as much."_

_He thrust her hand away from him, turning away and running a hand through his hair._

"_It won't matter to Marius, you know the rules Mercy! I killed Julian, they'll want blood. That's how the laws work, and not even Bella can break 'em."_

_He resumed his pacing, hand reaching into his jacket to pull out the familiar deck of cards. He started shuffling, but not even that comfort was enough to relax him._

"_The wedding was supposed to make it so shit like this don't happen, now look at it! The _batard_ goes and comes not even a second after the 'I do's and ruins it all! We're on the verge of war again unless the Assassin's are calmed down, and the only way to do that…" _

_He paused, and gazed helplessly at his blonde sister-in-law. _

"_There's no other way Mercy."_

_Mercy pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at her little brother-in-law, noting how frightened he looked. It was odd, Gambit never had been scarred of anything before, was he afraid to die?_

"_Remy, Bella's the future Matriarch, so maybe she can figure something out. You're her husband now, surely there's a way to bend the rules so you won't have to die."_

_Gambit walked over to his bed, and fell heavily upon it, face in his hands._

"_I don't know what to do Mercy."_

_Before she could say anything, another knock sounded at the door, and a tall balding man with a red haired goatee poked his head in the room._

"'_m I interrupting anything? Funny place to hide _Frere_, not like no one knows where your room is."_

_Remy shot up from his bed, his features anxious, nervous. _

"_Henry, what's the council decided? When's it gonna be?"_

_His brother's face remained impassive, but his eyes betrayed the sorrow that he felt. Gambit knew that no matter what he was sentenced to, he wasn't going to like it. Still, knowing what it was and when would be better then dreading it without knowing at all._

"_It's going to be as soon as possible _Frere_, and…" _

_Henry paused, and took a breath to steady himself._

"_Good news, Bella kept them from deciding to kill you."_

_Remy took a moment to absorb that, again sitting heavily onto his bed. Bella, she did that for him? He had killed her brother, someone she loved dearer then many others she had known, despite how the both of them disagreed on several occurrences, and despite how Julian seemed to have had a severe desire to see her fiancé's head on a pike. Remy had never understood the exact parameters of Belle's relationship to her rather psychotic brother, though he did know exactly what Julian felt about Belle. He hadn't ever expected Bella to forgive him for killing Julian, if it had been Henry and Belle instead; he would have felt the same. It was a shock, for sure._

"_She did that for me?"_

_Mercy smiled at her brother-in-law. _

"_Of course she did Remy; you're her husband after all. I knew she'd find a way around it, this is Bella, and since when has she ever not gotten her way?"_

_Henry held up a hand, bringing the attention back to him, his face was still grave. _

"_It's not all good though, the Assassins still needed to be placated, and even if their Prince was a disreputable asshole, he was still well loved, though I've no clue why. She had to make a compromise, and you're not gonna like it Rems."_

_Of course, out of the Frying Pan. Remy sighed, and looked his brother in the eye, resigned to his fate._

"_What'd she convince them to decide Henry? What's my sentence?"_

_Henry's eyes were sad as they gazed back into his brother's._

"_You're to be exiled, your marriage annulled, and you're not allowed to come back to N'Awleans again. If you ever come back, the Assassins'll have your head. And…"_

_Henry took a deep breath, this last bit of news the most painful to repeat, and the biggest blow to his _petite frere_._

"_You're not part of the guild anymore, not to speak with your _famille_, not to have any contact whatsoever. It's the full deal Remy, you're to pack your things and be gone by tomorrow."_

_Gambit stopped breathing for a few seconds, the shock hitting him full force. Never to come back to New Orleans again? Never to speak or have contact with his family? This…this was just as bad as execution, maybe even worse._

"_Remy?"_

_Mercy reached a hand halfheartedly towards him, then paused, thinking better of it. There was nothing she or anyone could do now. He was exiled, gone from everything he knew. End of the line. Done._

"_I should get packing then."_

_***_

_He was saying goodbye to everyone, well, everyone who had opted to risk the anger of the council to see him off one last time. Not surprisingly, his father hadn't even given him notice. It would've been enough for the leader of the Thieves guild to say a single parting word to his 'dead' son to set the Assassins off. It made no sense, but rules were rules._

_Of course Mercy and Henry were there saying goodbye; they would've risked hell and worse before fully abandoning him. He did his best to keep his composure with them, bad enough that he had been so open in his room when they gave him the bad news. _

_His cousins popped in for a quick goodbye before leaving him just as quickly, he didn't blame them, he was supposed to be 'dead' to them, but he was too well liked by most of his family for them to let him leave without giving a, if very brief, farewell._

_His Tante was a surprise, though not an unpleasant one. She could spend as much time as she wanted saying goodbye to him, and damn what Marius said about it, she was a Voodoo Priestess, you didn't mess with them. Another surprise was the flask that she pressed into his hand, causing his eyes to widen in shock. _

"_Tante…you can't be serious, I'm not guild anymore, this elixir's not for me."_

_The imposing woman held up a hand to his face, giving him a stern look that told him to hush before he said anymore._

"_You shush Remy Labeau, you part of the guild no matter what them Assassins say, so I won't be havin' you keel over before your Thief brothers, and I make the potions so it's what I say that counts, not Marius or your _Pere_."_

_He shook his head, making a halfhearted attempt to give the flask back to her._

"_Tante, it's not worth living a long life if I have to live away from the _Famille_. I can't-"_

_She interrupted him, shoving the flask firmly back into his hands._

"_You know Bella's gonna be the leader someday, and this Exile's not gonna be forever, I'm sure of it. It'll be a long while before that happens though, and I want you to be at your peak still when Marius finally stops bein' so pigheaded and lets my boy back to the people what care about him."_

_He gave up fighting, simply pocketing the flask into one of the many hidden pockets in his coat. He shook his head again and gave her a smile._

"_Alright Tante, you win. I'll only take it sparingly though; don't care too much about this whole 'living forever' deal that the guild's got."_

_She gave him a fierce hug, kissing both his cheeks and holding his face with her hands._

"_You don't have to take much of it, just enough so you can come back to us whole and healthy, that's all any of us care about Remy. You take care of yourself child."_

_He nodded, and with another heartfelt hug and kiss, she left him to return to those who were still under her charge in the guild. _

_He left soon after that, carrying only enough to fit on his person and his Bike, and soon he was riding out on his way away from the only home he had ever known._

_***_

_The last person he had expected to meet up with before he left the borders of his hometown was Bella-Donna. However, there she was, leaning against her own bike on the side of the road, blonde head uncovered so he could recognize her, waiting for him._

_He stopped and pulled over to where she was, he figured if she wanted to have a few last words before he left he owed it to her. She was the sole reason he was still breathing after all, even if the alternative didn't seem all that preferable to death._

"_Remy, I'm so sorry."_

_Those were the first words she said to him the moment he was within speaking distance of her. He took his helmet off and stood facing her, both silent, both wary, not knowing how the other stood, even if they were supposed to be united in marriage._

"_This wasn't how it was supposed to be Belle; it wasn't the reason for all that word we did."_

_She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, glaring off to the side as if the street had done her some great wrong._

"_It was never gonna work out in the end, no matter what your _Pere_, my _Pere_, the council, what anyone thought. That marriage was a joke from the start."_

_A corner of his mouth turned up into a rueful smirk._

"_S'not like anyone blame us for not tryin', we had some good times Belle."_

_Her face turned from a scowl into a sad smile as she looked at him, and she nodded in agreement._

"_Yeah, we did have some good times. But maybe this was for the best Remy, now we don't have to get married, and you can find someone to actually love for once. And I…" _

_She took a deep breath, shuddering slightly. Remy felt a pain in his chest, reminded again of the loss he had caused her, and also reminded of the oddly close relationship Bella had had with her brute of a brother._

"_I can get set to focus on becoming the guild Matriarch. With Julian gone, I'm the heir. I've got a lot of changes planned, and hopefully that duel you went through will be the last for a good long while."_

_He shook his head, taking a step closer to his, now, X-wife._

"_It won't be that easy, and you shouldn't have to have this burden on your shoulders. I-"_

_She gave him a glance that silenced him, eyes shiny with unshed tears, but an inner fire inside them that reminded him once again that this woman wasn't some wilting flower. This was Bella-Donna, princess of the Assassins, and she was not to be trifled with._

"_Your exile will be lifted Remy, I promise, but don't go blamin' yourself for what happened to my _Frere_. The last thing I do is blame you for Julian's idiotic choice. And it was his choice Remy, you were just defending yourself, and my _Pere'll_ see that sooner or later. If not…"_

_Here she gave him her own rueful smile._

"_Well, you Thieves are the ones that live a long time, hit men like us only live as long as any other person out there. We just hit like tanks."_

_He let out a deep breath, and made his own attempt to smile at her._

"_Well, maybe I'll get back in time to see what poor _homme_ you end up marrying for more then two minuets. Looks like Henry's taking my place as head of the Thieves."_

_Belle frowned at that, pursing her lips as an unpleasant thought occurred to her._

"_I'm gonna be workin' with your _Pere_ and your _Frere _now aren't I? I'm not looking forward to that."_

_He chuckled and walked forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder._

"_They're not that bad Belle, you'll work fine with 'em. I've got a feeling they'll prefer you over your _Pere _soon as you get the leadership. I know I prefer the idea of you in charge over your brother."_

_He winced; he hadn't meant to remind her of Julian. Yes, her brother, who would've been in charge if he hadn't jammed a sword in his gut. Smart move Remy._

_However, Belle only smiled sadly at that, not making any indication that she held any ill will towards Gambit for killing her brother, just like she said she wouldn't._

"_I don't like the idea of working with your _Pere_; don't like the idea of leading at all. You lucked out."_

_He shrugged, so he wasn't going to lead the guild anymore, he didn't think he would have done a good job at it to begin with._

"_You do fine."_

_She sighed, and pushed him away from her._

"_Go Remy, you'd better be about ten miles away from here before sunrise, or I can't be held responsible for what happens."_

_He looked down, again the weight of his exile pressing hard on him, but when he looked back at her again, his devilish smirk was back in it's proper place._

"_Keep those traces on me Bella, by the time I get back, the world will know me to be the best thief there is."_

_She let out a chuckle, and shook her head at him._

"_You and that big ego of yours, get out of here Remy Lebeau. This place ain't for you no more."_

_With that last farewell, Gambit left New Orleans behind._

Only to awaken to the view of chipped yellow paint, and the smell of stale cigarettes. The only sounds he could hear were some deep baselines, making him believe he was near a club somewhere, if not right on top of one.

"Where 'm I?"

***

**Aaaaaand that's a cliffhanger for you folks! Just wanted to get Remy's past out of the way for ya, and for me. I know, I know, twice in one day! Well, this comes from me being snowed in my apartment and with no transportation to any other place...needless to say, I was bored and decided to get this chapter done. Rogue's gonna come into the picture, in the next chapter, and maybe some Romyness will show itself. Granted, I need to get them established and everything first, but hey, you guys got two chapters, be happy! It's a rare thing fro me to write so much, and frankly I'm doing it now so that I can feel constructive about something.**

**Stupid snow…Melt! Grrrr…**

**Review please, for you have been gifted with two chapters in one day, that deserves presents of some kind!**

**Gimmie presents. Gimmieeeeeeeee.**

'**Cune out.**


	5. Proposition

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the wackadoodle ideas that this plot posesses..And even those are inspired by some other writings like as not.**

**Hello all you ladies and gentlebuggers, it's me, the 'Cune! Here to grant you another chapter! I know, it's shocking that I'm still updating, especially after it took me so long to get it up here. . I'm soooooo sorry about that! But! Good news! I has a job! Yay! I'm getting a paycheck!**

**Now…if I could just get off my bum to write more, you'd all love me. Ah well, again, sorry for the wait, here's a story to placate you.**

_Italics_** for French, thoughts, and some flashbacks.**

**Enjoy.**

***

Gambit had a headache. The low beats coming through the floor from what he guessed could be a club or something of that nature weren't helping matters. He wanted some aspirin. He wanted some Bourbon. Most of all, however, he wanted to know where the hell he was.

A noise to his left caused him to look sharply in that direction, and as soon as he did, his dark brown eyes met startled emerald, the eyes of the girl he had, supposedly, attempted to rescue. All of his memories of the fight, well, almost fight, came back to him. He remembered threatening the _batard_, remembered scarring him at that. He also remembered that he had passed out with this _femme _in his arms and that swine smirking at him.

He needed a drink.

He also needed to know what the fuck happened, and why he was here, with this girl, and why Mr. I-take-steroids-to-feel-better-about-my-manhood wasn't around to shove his, embarrassing, nap in his face.

He decided to repeat his earlier question to her, instead of asking it of the rather unresponsive ceiling.

"Where 'm I?"

She looked at him warily, keeping some pretty good distance between him and herself. She was practically at the other side of the small room, right next to the doorway, through which Gambit could see what looked like a small mirror, along with a whole bunch of cosmetics and general showgirl paraphernalia.

"Its jus' some place a…friend of mine let me use. Nothin' much, an' I couldn't let you lie there in the street for some street thief to make off with everything but your own skin."

Remy paused for a second, thinking of the irony of him being at the mercy of another thief, an amateur at that, for a change. It was funny, and rather pathetic. He decided not to question his fortune that the girl had a conscience, even if the place he was in screamed 'lowest end of the streets' to him. He HAD been in worse.

He sighed, and then made a careful smile at her, attempting to make her a little less…tense around him. She was nervous around him, and he could sense confusion and a little bit of, not fear, but caution. Good, it seemed that she wasn't in panic mode anymore, so at least now he knew for sure that muscle head wasn't nearby, she was back to being the sassy wench from the club.

"Well, I guess I owe you then, thanks."

He made to stand up, only to be halted by his killer headache. Really now, he had gotten his share of hangovers in his day, but this was worse then any of them. Where was the aspirin?

"Don't get up," The girl, Rogue was her 'name' if he recalled right, moved a little bit towards him, a hand half raised in an attempt to help. She quickly lowered it though, and moved back to her place on the door. He picked up on feelings of hesitation and then resignation, strange, she _wanted _to help, but it seemed like she felt that she couldn't.

"'m not gonna bite you _cherie_."

He held his head in one of his hands, one eye open and looking confusedly at her.

"What happened back there? All I remember is that pig shovin' you at me and then…blackin' out." God his head hurt, he couldn't help groaning after getting those words out.

"Got any aspirin?"

She nodded and quickly vanished out the doorway, only to return just as quickly to hand the bottle of pills to him. She held the bottle towards him, but still somehow keeping as much distance as possible between them, stretching her arm out its full length with her hand only halfway gripping the bottle, fingertips just barely keeping a grip on it.

It was at this time that Gambit noticed that her hands were no longer bare, that, in fact, they were covered with very long purple opera gloves. And now that the noticed, he looked at the rest of her and observed that, with as much material as could be scavenged, she had managed to cover every inch of her body that could be managed to cover, up to and including what looked like three flimsy coats, ragged enough that not even a hobo would wear them, all three hoods covering her brown and white head.

He took the time to take this all in, giving her a good look up and down. Nothing was lecherous in his gaze, just clean observation, but she blushed all the same, making a motion for him to take the bottle from her, risking an even closer step towards him.

He took the bottle, making a point to brush his bare hand against her gloved ones, and carefully observing how she snatched her hand back, as if burned, sparring no moment to quickly resume her place back at the side of the door.

He turned to where there was a nightstand beside him, and noted the glass of water on it. He took the glass and popped a few pills in his mouth, gratefully drinking them down. He sighed and glanced back at the girl, waiting for the medicine to take effect, which it did shortly, and he could have cried in relief as the pain in his head abated.

During this time all the girl did was look down, stealing small glimpses at him now and again, but overall trying not to draw attention to her. He wondered again how a _belle femme _like this got caught up in her line of work. He also wondered if she was going to get some serious repercussions from what had just happened in that alley. He didn't know what had happened after he blacked out, but he was guessing it couldn't be good for the young woman in front of him, especially as he was in a 'friends place' and not an apartment of her own. Or maybe she didn't want him knowing where she lived? Honestly, Gambit mused, that would make sense. She didn't know him, didn't know what his intentions were, he could understand her not wanting him to be housed in her own apartment.

He gave her another once-over. Judging from the change in wardrobe alone, he had to admit that things just might be a bit more complex then that. One didn't go through an entire wardrobe change at random, and her wardrobe change was the most eccentric he had seen yet.

"So, what happened back there?" He could only think to ask his question again, since she hadn't answered him the first time and seemed like she just wanted to find a hole someplace and hide. Okay, she wasn't panicking right now, but she was wary, and she wanted to get out of there and get rid of him as fast as she could. Well, maybe all her fears hadn't gone away just yet.

She pursed her lips and didn't look him in the eyes. She took a big breath and Remy sensed her reluctance to give him his answer, but determination to get the explanation over with.

"I sucked out your soul, then used it to kick James to the curb where he belongs."

Gambit blinked at her for a few seconds, baffled. Okay, she what now?

"You sucked, what?"

That would be the moment where someone would come up with a clever innuendo, but from the look the _femme _gave him, this was no time to be clever.

"I sucked out your soul, I absorbed you. It's what I do when I touch someone, skin to skin. When I do it, in the case of mutants, I gain their powers for a bit, as well as some of their personalities. So, thanks to your pink power, I scarred James off."

A small smirk came to the corner of her mouth, probably remembering how she had frightened the abusive ape with his powers. Remy didn't really think too much on that, he was still trying to come to terms with the whole 'sucked out your soul' phrase she gave to him.

"So you…absorb someone through skin contact." He furrowed his brows in thought. "Huh, why didn't it work at the club? I touched you then."

She shifted from one foot to the other, looking off to her right, clearly uncomfortable.

"Ah…" There went her accent again. "Ah hate my powers, so ah made a deal with the owner of the club. Ah would work for him, and do some…private services for his brother, that would be James, and in return he'd give me what ah always wanted."

Now she looked him face to face, her green eyes determined, sad, and just a bit desperate.

"Touch."

Gambit gave her a skeptical look, narrowing his chocolate brown eyes at hers.

"You were one of them that took the infamous and unreliable Cure weren't you?"

She bit her lip and looked away. Well, that was a clear answer as anything.

"I can't control it."

That took him aback, but then again, of course she couldn't control it, otherwise her powers would probably not be nearly as bad as she was making them out to be. Other then her hair she didn't have any physical mutations, so it must've been the touch itself that got to her.

He couldn't think of something so…lonely. That meant she couldn't touch anyone without hurting them. He had been on the tail end of her powers for only a few moments, and he was out for long enough for her to transport him to another area, and his head felt like hell! Damn if he couldn't understand her desire to be able to feel. If she couldn't control a power that kept her at arms length from everyone around her he didn't have any right to judge.

Honestly, from what she described, with how much his life revolved around touching people, he would have just shot himself if he were her.

"I don' think I can blame you _Cher_. Your powers sound like some kind of Hell to me."

She looked up at him again, shock in her eyes, and gratitude for not judging her. He could sort of understand that, too many were being persecuted for taking the Cure, and bad enough that the stupid thing didn't work in the first place. Not only were they were getting ripped from both anti-mutant humans, they were also getting the same, if not worse, treatment from their fellow mutants.

"So you got rid of 'im, good for you _cherie_, but you might be out of work for that if the man's your boss' _frere_."

She nodded and narrowed her eyes, and he felt determination emanating from her. She looked back at him, challenging, and daring, like she was prepared to take on the world.

"I'm not going back there again. I'm findin' my own way."

Good, she was getting out of the piss poor life she was in. Remy was glad, practically proud for her. It hadn't seemed like the kind of life she was suited too, or the life she deserved. He gave her one of his trademark smirks, going back to the flirtatious person she had met with before.

Now that she wasn't being beaten within an inch of her live…

"Would that way happen to end in sharin' a bed with me _cherie_?"

Her emerald eyes widened, obviously not at all expecting him to go back to flirting so soon. Just when she thought he was starting to act decent…

She glared at him, and Remy felt immense relief and pride in the fact that the glare was no longer a flimsy shield over a broken and battered girl, with no more strength to fight the hurts the world put on her. He almost expected her to slap him for that comment, but there was the small matter of her still standing halfway across the room from him. Hmmm, he'd have to start doing something about that.

"Didn't you pay any attention to a word I just said?!"

So apparently a verbal slap wasn't out of her capabilities.

"And what word was that _Cher_? 'm afraid I'm a little hard of hearing sometimes." There was his smirk again, and she had dared to hope it had vanished for good around her.

"I. Can't. Touch. Anyone! There's no 'bed sharin' to be had Cajun!"

She really needed someone to tell her that she was absolutely _belle_ when she got mad. Really. The fire in her eyes was stunning, and the way her pale cheeks flushed…Okay, focus Remy, you've still got a _fille_ to help out. Though, riling her up was fun. Damn it! Focus!

"Y'know, there are ways around that. If someone's creative enough and…" Cue a suggestive lift of the eyebrows. "Willing."

He was beginning to wonder if she was still breathing. She froze, stilled completely and just looked at him. He could feel that she was livid, that she wanted him to know that she was livid, but what she didn't know was that he could also feel that she was…flattered by his comment. Flattered and, was it? Interested. She wanted to know of the ways around her mutation, wanted to see how she could touch, wanted to learn how to be close to someone without skin contact.

Trouble was, she may have wanted these things, but he had the sense that she didn't want these things with 'him'. Not that he blamed her, a complete stranger and all that. Still, shame.

"You're crazy if you think I'm gonna even consider that lame pick up line after I just got outta my 'thing' with James."

Ah, right, the _batard_. She had kicked the man's ass, Remy didn't see what the issue was. Well…she didn't have a reason to trust him yet, so that was probably why. Damn. He'd have to fix that.

"You have anyplace to go after this?"

She opened her mouth, face still flushed prettily, as if about to give him another scathing retort, when she suddenly paused, once again caught off guard by his words. She shut her mouth, and seemed to consider her answer, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him.

"Why you wanna know? More importantly, why do you care?"

Remy sighed, this girl was about as suspicious and on guard as he was most of the time, and despite his casual façade, that was saying something. Again, he was reminded that he still needed to learn more about the woman, learn what exactly had happened to put her in the situation she was in.

"_Cher._" He sat up, headache cleared enough that he could do so without feeling like a vice was squeezing it. "I don't want to hurt you. I may want to sleep with you," Here another rising of his eyebrows. "But in case you hadn't noticed with that gorilla you were hangin' out with, I don't hold kindly to men who take advantage of women. Call it against my nature as a gentleman." He gave her another smirk, and was pleased to notice a _belle_ blush grace her cheeks. "You can be assured that the only intentions I have with you are of the honest attraction kind. They may not be necessarily innocent…" Another smirk, another blush, he loved making that tinge come to her cheeks. "But they won't be anything that you don't want. I don't go where I'm not wanted, you can be most assured of that _ma belle_."

It was during this little speech that Remy had slowly gotten up and moved so that he was right in front of her. He took the opportunity of her not noticing, too busy as she was blushing at his innuendo's, to gently take her hand and softly brush his lips across her knuckles.

She jerked back, startled, and attempted to back even further away from him, finding that she was rather unable to get very far due to the wall next to the open doorway that was directly behind her. Remy didn't advance further, all too aware of her very violent and previous relationship, and of her skittishness to close proximity, to attempt to get much closer to her like he'd like to do. You could only push a frightened deer so much before it bolted after all.

"Gentleman huh?" She calmed a bit when she noticed he hadn't made a move to pin her to said wall. He was still close enough to make her uneasy, but he was far enough away that she didn't panicked and ready to bolt.

"You don't seem like a gentleman to me. What about goin' where you aren't able?"

Remy gave her a slow smile, giving her an equally slow once over. She had said that he wasn't able, not that he wasn't wanted. He was liking her more by the second.

"Already told you _cherie_, there are ways around it. If you're creative enough." He reached a hand towards her, slowly, still testing the waters of her shaky confidence. He was pleased that she didn't flinch away, at least not until he had lightly grasped a few white strands in his bare hands. Even then it wasn't so much as a flinch as a turning of her head in the opposite direction, so there was absolutely no risk of skin contact.

"Do you have anyplace to go _Cher_?"

Her eyes glazed over, and he felt her regret and sadness keenly.

"I…had a place, once. I'd rather not go there again. Other then that, no where." She looked away from him, worry etched into her features and resonating from her to him with his empathy. One thing talking to her had done, she was opening up to him a bit more, enough that she was telling him this much.

He played with the strands in his hand, noting that it was even softer then he had imagined. Poor thing, he wondered again what had happened to her, to land her in her situation.

"I've got a place, y'can stay with me if you like, at least until you get yourself settled elsewhere."

Worry flitted across her features, she didn't feel that she could trust him, and he could understand that, he could understand that completely. He reached out with his empathy to calm her, to get her to open up even more. A part of him felt rather offended with himself, that he was willing to charm a girl just to get her to stay at his place, but he shoved it to the side, telling himself that the girl really didn't have any other place to go, and that it was either him, or some other asshole who wanted to get some ass and then leave her to the streets.

He admitted that he wanted her ass too, but he was completely honest when he told her he'd never go where he wasn't wanted, that he'd never push where she'd be uncomfortable. He firmly reminded his hormones _and_ his conscience of that fact. He was not going to take advantage of her.

He'd do the same with any other poor woman in her situation. Really. It was just that she was the most interesting one he'd met yet.

He knew his charm had worked when the worry was replaced with resignation. It wouldn't have worked on her at all if she wasn't already considering trusting him. He guessed the whole 'attempt' to save her from the buffoon helped his case in that matter.

"Alright, but no funny stuff. I'll drain ya dry if you try anything, and I mean _anything_ Cajun."

So she was willing to trust, him, didn't mean she wasn't above threatening him with death by soul sucking.

He gently took the hand that held the jabbing finger against his chest in his hand and pressed his lips against her knuckles again, another devil smirk on his face.

"Understood _cherie_."

She rolled her eyes at him and turned, moving towards the open doorway, through which the room with the mirror could be seen. He again noted that the entire time he had her 'pinned' against that wall, she had had more then enough room to move into the far moor open space through the doorway. Another point in his favor so it seemed.

"Muse!"

He was only slightly shocked that such a rather quiet southern spitfire could carry such a loud voice in her lungs. Considering the attitude she had shown him, it was only to be expected.

Following said shout a woman with short black hair and golden colored eyes appeared in front of the doorway, talking on a mobile and wearing what looked to be a…circus ring leader's outfit. Coattails, cufflinks, tights, top hat and all. She also seemed rather irked at whoever was on the other line of said phone.

"I don't care if she gives me a pound in diamonds for the gig, I told her I'm not going to subject myself to the degradation of entertaining those hypocritical bigots and that's that!" She looked up and noticed the amused face on him, and the rather exasperated face of his _belle cherie_, and seemed to feel her discussion was over.

"Hang on, I'll talk to you later Alli, and no, I really mean it this time. She wants me to sing, she's gonna have to have a damn good argument for it." With that the golden eyed girl hung up the phone, quickly pocketing it to god knows where, and promptly gave the _cherie_…erm…Rogue, a mock frustrated look.

"And what, pray tell, did I do to warrant that rude calling Anna dear?"

Rogue rolled her eyes and jabbed a thumb towards Remy.

"I'm heading over to his place, he offered me a room so I wanted to tell you that I'd be out of your hair. Not that it sounds like _you're_ going to be strapped for cash anytime soon Muse." With that Rogue's expression turned from exasperated to wryly amused.

'Muse' shrugged, waving a hand dismissively at the thought, as if she really didn't care about the fact that someone was apparently willing to pay her a pound of diamonds in order to get her to sing. She then turned a suspicious glance in Remy's direction, golden eyes filled with a hostile emotion.

"You sure about this Anna? You just got rid of James…and I really don't mind you hanging out here. He seems…" She narrowed her eyes, and Remy quickly debated on whether or not he'd have to charm this _femme_ as well. He quickly decided against it when this 'muse' girl just shrugged her shoulders and waved dismissively at both of them, shifting her hostile demeanor just as quickly as she had adopted it.

"Never mind, it's your life. Your funeral. Just don't hesitate to come crawling back to me if he turns out to be a jackass."

…Remy really didn't know what to say to that, and could only shrug helplessly as his Rogue let out a light chuckle.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind Muse. I guess I'll be seein' you around…or not if you finally decide to take that job you keep on bitchin' about."

Muse shrugged and waved again at them, clearly dismissing them from her presence…or her room. It seemed like either case she wanted them to leave.

Remy could only shrug again, and with another of his devilish smirks, gave a gentlemanly bow towards Rogue, his arm gesturing in what he guessed was the way out of the small apartment.

"After you _ma cherie_."

Rogue only rolled her eyes and moved in the _proper_ direction to leave the apartment, which was actually the opposite direction that Remy had gestured. What could he say? He had been knocked out when he had first gone in there, it wasn't as if he had memorized the layout of the place.

"Don't call me that Swamp Rat. I'm not you're darlin' neither." She gave a wave at her friend. "See you later Muse."

Muse simply gave her a nonchalant wave and replied in a bland voice. "Let's hope not, then that means the guy's an asshole and I have to castrate him."

Remy winced slightly, not too sure what to think of this muse character, but he eagerly followed Rogue out of the building, he only hoped he could get to learn more about this enchanting _femme_ before his real work caught up to him.

"So Cajun, how we getting to your place?"

Damn, he was going to have to work on his moves around her, first getting knocked out by her powers while trying to save her, then this? Smooth Remy, smooth.

***

**Ummm…I want you all to know that I love you all?**

***everyone glares at 'cune***

**Uhhh…look! I updated! And it's a really, really, really long chapter! See? I haven't abandoned you…yet…I mean…Please don't hurt me! *cowers***

**I own none of these characters except for Muse. She's actually a mutant that I came up with, and couldn't resist putting her in here. Really, she's not gonna have much of a part in here. Just going to poof in in a couple of scenes, 'cause I want her in there…and for comic relief. *laughs* Her powers aren't much, just some pretty decent empathy and hypnotic abilities when she's singing or dancing, best when singing, kinda like Remy's charm only…works on a crowd. It really doesn't do much other then makes people have a 'good time.' *laughs* Anyways, she's not gonna be appearing for more then like…two or three scenes at most. However, the character 'Ali' is actually a Marvel character, though I'm not sure if I got her name right. Read in another story what her name was, and I don't know if they were correct or not. Not that I'm going to tell YOU who she is. *laughs* You'll just have to wait until another one of Muse' random scenes shows up. She'll also not have much of a role, I just figured the two of them would fit together, considering their respective powers. Other then thaaaaat…the plot is definitely mine, and there IS a plot…somewhere. It'll show up soon.**

**Next chapter; let's take a look at how Bobby's doing at the mansion shall we?**

**Review for your Auntie 'Cune? Please? *eyebrow waggle***


End file.
